D11 is an art collective formed by a group of Dutch and international recent Minerva alumni and local artists. For a period of six months the group of nine artists have isolated themselves in a remote house in Greece to focus on creating paintings, photography, crafts and nature.
As a culmination of the residency the collective is planning to organise a final exhibition in fall 2024 in Groningen combined with publishing the D11 residency book.
The D11 group (formed in 2020) first came together coincidently in Groningen at the Minerva art academy. The three consolidating artists shared the assigned studio ‘D11’ and very quickly developed a reputation as the notorious D11 painters across the city. The name stuck. The three painters (Alexander Blu, Sinne Brink and Timothy Lewis) formed a strong friendship and started working, developing, curating, creating and even living together. A mosaic of cultures brought together by the three artists laid the foundations for a strong group of painters. D11 features collaborative guest artists with high artistic impact across the city, resulting in a mosaic of media, artistic individualism, cultures and themes: all with one thing in common: Groningen. The collective has exposed as a group frequently in and around the city, additionally, the individual artists have exposed in the city and internationally, successfully selling work around the world. The guest artists have also produced significantly within the constraints of there media. However, as graduation came to a close, the three artists considered in many ways, a cheeky start to their careers. The D11 residency program was formed. In the coming year, the collective is moving its artistic practice through Europe with significant stops in Italy (Rome, Milan), settling down outside Athens, creating a creative, artistic hub of pure passionate work. The d11 residence program, is an artist residency that invites mostly Dutch based artists (more specifically Groningen based artists) to a residency space in Greece, to work for an unlimited period of time within a sixth month period.
Alexander Blu (founder):
Alex is a young contemporary oil painter tapping into narrative themes of ‘violence’ and the
‘ugly’ making visible the unconscionable, bringing light and colour to what is otherwise
shrouded in darkness. making the viewers look deeply into the mirror of a forlorn spiritual
wasteland of post industrial society. Relating to his memories and to mediums of his
childhood; cinema, photography and literature, he uses the limitless possibilities of paint to
visualise a still image that briefly taps into a story that creates a correspondence to pull the
viewer back into a evocative relationship with the ‘ugly’. As a recent Minerva Graduate (with
honours), he has successfully exposed his work in various exhibitions, selling internationally
as well as being extremely active within the Groningen community, organising events and
showing his work in new and refreshing contexts.
Sinne Brink (founder):
Sinne Brink is a contemporary artist who somehow, unknowingly, found herself embodying
one of the most essential qualities of modern humour and cultural communication as found
in the online world. With a potent humorous foundation behind every artwork, comes visual
imagery that captures hysterical archetypes, reoccurring trends, fashions as well as ironic
takes of imagery that are idealised in a satirical, technical and underhanded visual image in
a variety of mediums. Having been painting since “her mum shat her out”, her natural pre-
disposition to seek out comedy in imagery not only finds beauty in the bleak chaos of the
world, but also in its simplicity and it’s ridiculous bearer – the online world. Sinne Brink’s art
is hers, herself and what she will and wants to do. Sinne Brink, a recent minerva graduate,
and of the founders of D11, has exposed and participated in exhibitions across Groningen
working at times with notable galleries (such as gallery Pictura) to much success.
Timothy Lewis (founder):
@tinmark._0
Timothy Lewis is a young oil painter and tattoo artist. Attending an art school in the northern
Netherlands, he constantly experimented with new themes and imagery, refusing to be
pigeonholed. There is despite this a clear obsession with the human form, with the
deconstruction of the framing and reframing of his subjects, and with the building of painterly
worlds around his characters. He is re-contextualising, appropriating, and playing with his
images. His paintings are both intensely specific, yet invite a variety of interpretations, he
would much rather you tell him what he has painted.
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